Lord Janner lied to child abuse inquiry in 1992, documents reveal

Lord Janner lied about evidence he gave to a child abuse inquiry – with the inquiry chairman’s permission, newly-released documents reveal.

The peer gave evidence in private to the 1992 Kirkwood Inquiry into child abuse in Leicestershire care homes in the wake of the conviction of paedophile Frank Beck.

Documents obtained by the BBC show the inquiry looked into claims Lord Janner sexually abused a boy from a care home whom he had “befriended” in the 1970s.

The boy, as an adult in his 30s, reported the allegations to the police in 1991. They were then made public by Beck at his trial that year.

Lord JannerCredit:
Will Wintercross

The 1992 documents show that after his questioning – on June 19, 1992 – Lord Janner asked the inquiry’s chairman Andrew Kirkwood QC if he could tell the media waiting outside that he had not been asked about allegations of child abuse against him.

Mr Kirkwood replied: "Of course, Mr Janner."

Lord Janner Credit:
Will Wintercross

The documents show this was not true, and the revelation that the real substance of the inquiry's questioning was withheld from the media will further fuel allegations of a cover-up.

Lord Janner was not prosecuted at the time and he rubbished the child abuse claims in the House of Commons.

He also refused to answer police questions.

The Kirkwood files will be crucial evidence for the national child abuse inquiry, chaired by Justice Lowell Goddard, which will examine the Janner case, including whether the inquiry wrongly left out allegations against Lord Janner in its final report.